Baikal automatic pistol - the gun of choice in gang circles - was unearthed

Baikal automatic pistol - the gun of choice in gang circles - was unearthed when police searched the teenager's home in New Cross, south-east London, in August, along with a magazine and two silencers hidden in a rucksack. Ammunition was found nearby and a machete and barrel brush for another gun were also found in the convicted robber's bedroom. The boy, who is too young to be named, admitted he was in a gang and told police he was holding it for someone else but would not say who.
Now 14, he pleaded guilty at Inner London Crown Court to possession of a prohibited weapon and illegal ammunition. Prosecutor David Atkins said the case was a "prime example" of the gang and gun crime facing police in London. He said: "The gangs are up to 40 to 60 in number. They will be controlled by young men in their early 20s. "There will be an escalating hierarchy of gang members and the junior members of the gang will start out, like the teenager, by hiding weapons but they will earn their (promotions) in the organisations by taking on shootings and violence." He added: "There is a significant risk to members of the public because there are gangland wars going on and members of the public are being misidentified and shot.
"Gangs are ruthless and have no moral scruples. They will shoot for the sheer fun of it, it seems." Detectives from the Central Criminal Directorate went to the teenager's home and the door was answered by the boy's mother, the court heard.
"She was asked if there was any drugs or firearms on the premises and replied no. The boy was asked the same question and he replied no," he told the court. A search team uncovered a machete in a wardrobe in the boy's bedroom and a white rucksack in the cellar containing the Baikal, magazine and silencer and ammunition nearby. He said the boy told police the gun was not his and added: "He was asked whose it was. He made no reply. He was asked 'are you holding it for someone else?' He nodded."
When he was later interviewed at Lewisham Police Station, he said he had been "storing" the gun since mid-July. He initially said he had been threatened into holding it, the court heard, but later said he had done it as a favour.
Mr Atkins said: "He admits to being a gang member and said the machete was in his room for his protection." Sentencing was adjourned until Jan 30 for psychiatric and pre-sentence reports.

Posted in: Inner London Crown Court